Already known (the document FR 2,621,529) is a process for making a mark on the surface of a food product to be marked, especially of the cheese or meat type, by thermal treatment, in which the food product to be treated, bare and of firm consistency, is subjected directly to at least one laser beam, the radiation characteristics of which are selected and adjusted to ensure a localised heating of the food product to be treated, capable, on the one hand, of burning the food product, without substantially vaporising it, at least essentially at the point of impact of the laser beam and, on the other hand, of limiting the heating of the food product to be treated to the immediate vicinity of the impact.
A laser marking apparatus for carrying out the process comprises means for supporting the bare food product to be marked, a laser capable of emitting a laser beam in the direction of the supporting means, and means capable of obtaining a transverse sweep, combined with a relative longitudinal stepwise sliding, of the laser beam in relation to the supporting means of the food product to be marked. According to one possible alternative embodiment, the apparatus has a mask intended to be interposed in the path of the laser beam and possessing an aperture, the edge of which corresponds to the contour of the mark to be made.
The object of the present invention is to provide an installation for the laser marking of the surface of a cheese or delicatessen food product, making it possible to carry out the process mentioned above. This installation according to the invention allows the process to be carried out on an industrial scale, thus implying conditions of productivity, of ease of use, of safety, etc., such as are generally required in industrial processes.
In the present instance, in fact, various problems arise, particularly the fact that the mark generally involves the upper face and lateral face of the food product; the need to have the possibility of treating a large number of food products in succession; the need to have the possibility of grasping the mask in an appropriate way in order to put it in place and remove it; safety; the production of a mark with a clean contour, etc.
Already provided are systems making it possible to orient laser beams so as to direct the laser beam in a suitable way according to the particular intended use. Reference may be made, for example, to the document EP 0,178,011 relating to a robot having a laser beam. However, a device such as this robot is certainly inappropriate for the laser marking of a cheese or a meat product.